The Word of Notch details the run-up to the full release of Minecraft next month, outlining plans for weekly prerelease versions for advanced users, and saying there be dragons:

The adventure update is going great! We’re adding features and cramming in content, and then started feature creeping and content creeping. What we’ve got on our hands now is somewhere in between a finished Adventure Mode update and a version of the game we’d be proud to call just “Minecraft”. Not “Minecraft Beta” or “Minecraft Alpha”, but just plain and simple “Minecraft”.

And we’re going to release that version of the game live on stage in Vegas at MineCon! Woooo!

Up until then, instead of trying to squeeze in another real release, we’re going to do weekly (or so) pre releases, aimed at advanced players. We release these via twitter, so make sure to follow me (@notch) and Jens (@jeb_) if you’re interested in those.